| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav consecutive in vayamat {וַיָּמָת | wayyāmaṯ} ‘and he died’, propelling the sequence. The proper name Elisha {אֱלִישָׁע | ʾĕlîšāʿ} functions as the subject. Next, vayikberuhu {וַיִּקְבְּרוּהוּ | wayyikberûhû} ‘and they buried him’ pairs a plural subject with a singular object suffix. The construct ugdudei moav {וּגְדוּדֵי מוֹאָב | ugĕdûḏē mō’āḇ} ‘bands of Moab’ specifies the raiders. The imperfect yavo'u {יָבֹאוּ | yāḇō’û} signals a habitual or repeated action. The prepositional phrase baarets {בָאָרֶץ | bā’āreṣ} ‘into the land’ marks the geographic target, followed by the temporal construct ba shanah {בָּא שָׁנָה | bā’ šānāh} ‘at the coming of the year’, denoting the annual campaign season. English renders the vav consecutives as conjunctions to preserve narrative flow and treats the imperfect as a repeated past to convey ongoing incursions. |